Rapid Fire Reviews: What Is Hipster Metal with Sightless Pit, Primitive Man/Full of Hell & Big|Brave

Lockstep Bloodwar - Sightless Pit

Sightless Pit is a musical project I first caught onto a few years ago as a meeting of the minds between frequent collaborators from experimental metal bands The Body and Full Of Hell alongside one of the most interesting artists in all of music in the past 5 years, Lingua Ignota. Now they've released a second album and even though Lingua Ignota is no longer involved, the record isn't lacking in interesting collaborations as a few artists I was already familiar with like Midwife, Gangsta Boo, and claire rousay appear in the tracklist. When this record is living in its comfort zone of crushing distorted textures, harrowing screamed vocals and the genuine sonic intensity of extreme metal things go pretty well. Opening track Resin On A Knife is an early highlight and the pairing with Midwife makes perfect sense and the title track around the midpoint satisfies my desire for horrifying shrill sounds on any album associated with The Body. The record also introduced me to some artists whose presence I enjoy like Lane Shi Otayonii whose screams and uncompromising sung vocals punctuate Flower To Tomb and Crownovhornz whose intensity is a great match for Shiv. Unfortunately, despite those tracks all of which feel some degree of familiar whenever this record wanders too far out of the comfort zone of its creators' results start to vary wildly. Both the quality and consistency of the album are hurt by the tracks which take a more beat-oriented approach and often come with lighter-sounding mixes and much more awkward percussion throughout. While I do appreciate the risks taken on the album I think the riskier the song the less it tends to pay off. Ultimately, because I believe in the talent of everyone involved so much and I admire the ambition Sightless Pit has always had I would gladly sit down with another one of their albums in the future. But with Lockstep Bloodwar I came away from things feeling just okay. 6/10 

Suffocating Hallucination - Full Of Hell & Primitive Man

Speaking of Full Of Hell they're making yet another appearance on this list alongside one of the most beloved doom metal bands of the 2020s so far, Primitive Man. Just last year Primitive Man delivered an absolutely epic EP which despite being just four tracks stretched the length of an entire album. This record, which runs just five songs is actually shorter in comparison likely because one of the songs is just 20 seconds long, an interlude called Bludgeon that lives up to its name. The 9-minute opening track Trepanation For Future Joys unfolds mostly how you'd think it would though the build-up to the songs peak energy goes a lot faster than I anticipated. The second half gets a bit more out of the comfort zone of Primitive Man and really starts to rev up the textured fuzz in the background and those shrill guitar lines buzzing my eardrums out. Even if it feels like a pretty linear sonic experience it's one that submerges my brain in the album immediately and enjoyably. By comparison, Rubble Home has that long build-up I was anticipating and my biggest complaint with it as a single was how short the payoff feels like it lasts in contrast with that slow climb. Even when it does reach its conclusion it doesn't quite come off with the same magnetic intensity of either band's best songs in the past. 

The second half of the record is considerably less sonically punishing. Dwindling Will is a piece of dark ambient music which features a surprisingly wide array of distant instrumentation throughout and also what sounds like some field recordings or sampled sounds. It's something I certainly never expected to hear from this album and yet it fits in surprisingly well, presenting a pretty all-consuming darkness that's easy to feel trapped in. A third of the record's entire runtime is taken up by the closing track Tunnels To God and it begins with a continuation of the dark ambience presenting a pretty full array of instrumentation but one played so distantly and filtered through so much noise that it starts to not even register after a while. The song ultimately does reach a much more pummeling and conventional doom metal progression but it feels entirely separate from the early ambient passage. I also think it's my favorite of the record's composition with a build that feels earned and a triumph that feels worthy with walls of soaring guitars and those slowly unfolding drum patterns that just burst out of the songs mix throughout. It provides a wonderful finale to the album as the song divulges into levels of grating distortion that I don't think I've ever heard before from Primitive Man. I came away from this album pretty pleased with it. Even if there are moments in the first half I'm not crazy about and I don't think either act is 100% playing to their strengths, they do come together to create something sonically compelling and quite unique within both their discographies. 7/10

nature morte - Big|Brave

Big Brave is a Canadian metal project who work a distinctive folk influence into their style. I first became aware of them in 2021 when the released a collaborative album with extreme metal band The Body. While I wasn't in love with that record it didn't have some incredibly highlights, most notably the amazing class anthem Hard Times which landed on my Songs Of The Year list that year. It was enough to keep me paying attention to the band and now I'm tuning into their 5th album anture morte. Even though I was expecting to hear a bit more reserved sound on this record than the previous two, I still wasn't surprised when they came out swinging on the vicious opening track carvers, farriers, and knaves. At first, it seems like that will continue onto the next track the one who bornes a weary load but it doesn't take long for that track to slow down the pacing and sonic intensity. I do think the song reaches a satisfying climax largely due to the absolutely uncompromising lead vocals even if nearly 10 minutes of runtime feels a tad indulgent. Unfortunately, indulgent becomes the name of the game. While I was prepared for long compositions coming into this record I wasn't prepared for how much of even the most involved sections of songs would feel like waiting. After a few listens the first four-and-a-half minutes of the fable of subjugation ultimately feels like build-up for the riveting eruption the song inevitably displays down the stretch. While the band continues to show off immense potential for songwriting and their lead vocalist is extremely compelling, they still have a lot of room to improve at sounding grand rather than just loud. 6.5/10